The Monthly Comment Mailbag - May 2010 Edition (Now with April Responses!)

Okay, I blew it last month, and I would have done this on the other day had it not been for Memorial Day. But I have a few minutes, and a bit of time, so here goes the responses to the comments from the last two months. I swear upon everything good and holy to try and keep this going on a monthly basis.

Ahem.

To John: That's what I get when I don't look at what I'm writing.

To Anonymous: Really? That's strange. I'll take your word for it. He said that none of the remaining 2009 Topps All-Star Rookie Team members (Nolan Reimold, Travis Ishikawa, Omir Santos and Chris Getz) didn't get the trophy on their cards. Ummm, WHAT??! Which reminds me (and I don't know if Topps' Internet guy Mr. Mader still reads this blog...), who did win the 50th Anniversary All-Star Rookie Team voting? I don't think I've seen the results of the poll that was advertised in packs of 2008 Topps (and the ensuing 100 card insert set). Who won??! And why didn't these four guys get their trophies on their cards? Does this mean that ASRT collectors won't bother getting the cards because none had the trophy on them???

To dfwbuck2: Yes, that is Mitch Talbot (lower right corner).


You were nearby when this happened? That's awesome.

To nevermore: The original sell sheets for 2010 Topps Series 2 said that the 20 short-printed legends cards had a print run of only 3000 cards each. I hope this means that Topps has finally disclosed the number of SP cards in the entire line (including series 1). This only makes the search for these cards much harder and trading for them now becomes tougher because of this announcement. Regarding the number of PITF cards? I can only think that these are in much shorter supply (then again, I'm not collecting these...have at them).

To The Chop Keeper: You may be right. The 2010 UD MLS set could be a seen as a "screw you" to Topps, but I think if you've seen the 2010 Topps SP Nolan Ryan card, that is Topps' way of saying "Bite Me!!!"


To anonymous (again): Ummm, yes they do. If you're going to disagree with the comparison between the designs of 2010 UD MLS and 2010 Topps Baseball, you might want to back it up with something. Do you work at UD???

To Offy: With all the fuss I've been making about too many Yankees in Topps products lately, I didn't even want to point out that there were six Yankees cards of the 30 in Topps Attax "Battle of the Ages." No Cubs cards make for a disappointing product.

To PhilM: Were you the one who e-mailed me about that? He says that if you look closely at the back of the CYMTO cards (the regular ones, not the original backs), you'll notice amongst the Topps cards that you'll see what looks like faint images of 1991 Donruss, 1992 Score, 1992 Leaf, et. al. And wouldn't you know it, he's right...I do see what looks like a series 2 1991 Donruss and some other non-Topps cards. Somebody must have taken a picture of a bunch of commons at a card show and used it for the back of these cards. You've got a good eye Phil. After looking at the back of one of the cards I had laying around, my eyes are getting blurry.

To Brady James: I get you. Still doesn't make any sense to me. But then again, I'm not the one who gets paid the money to figure these things out.

Thanks to all who wished me a Happy 2nd anniversary (Stormy, friend of the blog tdlindgren, Single Daddy of 2, night owl, Play at the Plate, Chop Keeper).

To anonymous (different guy): I'd be lying if I said every card I have is meaningful, and there are only so few that come to mind that I can say are truly meaningful. I try to come up with something with my "Card of the Day" segments if the year's design, or the card itself, brings back wonderful memories. I'm thinking that if I do continue this into 2011, that I'll change it a bit to include other sets (like the Topps 206's, A & G, Big, whatever). I will tell you though that looking for these cards really makes me appreciate my collection a lot more than I expected.

To Bo: I wonder if Jorge Posada does the Moises Alou treatment as well. I'm not about to look. And bringing up George Brett into the mix...I'm not sure I really want to know. Hey, all three guys are great hitters, so something must be working.

To beefman: Am I hoping that they do away with the Classic Combo cards? I'm not really sure if I'm for or against them. I'll stay neutral on the issue as many of the cards are great (see the 2009 Topps U & H Texas Rangers card with the guys holding up their name cards for media day). There are admittedly some cards I question, like the Houston Astros one from this year. The combo cards have been around for a long time. I'm pretty sure that if Topps stopped including them next year, I wouldn't miss them.

To anonymous (another guy): When I scan cards for the blog, I do use holders. Why? I guess to keep the cards straight when scanning. I found it annoying just to put cards in the scanner directly, only to have them come out at an angle or crooked (see the Nolay Ryan cards pictured above as an example). I thought using the holders would keep the cards straight, and then after they're scanned, I'd crop the holders off. But then I realized that I'm the only one (that I know of) that scans the holders as well, so I thought I'd keep them in the picture. For my Random Retro Sunday cards, I copy the picture from the Baseball Card Cyber Museum (thanks to Joe McAnally), and paste them onto what I call an "empty frame" (a clear card holder) and fit the card into the holder.

To jacobmrley: You learn something new everyday. Who knew that Yogi was that close to being a Brooklyn Dodger or a St. Louis Cardinal?

And so ends this edition of the Monthly Comment Mailbag...oh wait. I almost forgot.

I received an e-mail the other day from a gentleman named Brian, looking for the 1999 Topps MVP Promo card that was inserted into packs of 1999 Topps Series 1. Now if you recall, these were similar to the regular '99 cards, but had that big MVP promotion logo on the front, and an entry form on the back (in the event that the player on the front was selected as Topps' MVP for the week). Sosa wasn't selected, and there were only 100 of each card produced. If anybody has the Sosa card, please e-mail Brian at Inruinzz@aol.com. He is willing to trade or buy it. I promised I'd throw this on here. If you have the card, he'd be happy to hear from you.

That's it. The Natural is on right now (the Robert Redford baseball movie), so I'm going to sign off and watch what's left of it. Until next time.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama